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Larry, Bush Pilot
Larry, Bush Pilot
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jordan Mierek, also known as Jordan Elizabeth, usually writes for young adults, but after many requests, she has published her first children's book. Larry, Bush Pilot is a collaborative effort between Mierek and her father, Lawrence Mierek, who grew up on a dairy farm. Larry, a ten-year-old boy, also lives on a farm during the 1970s with his father, who owns an aeroplane. Despite his age, Larry's father taught him to fly, which came in handy when his father suffered an accident in the middle of nowhere.

This short story loosely reflects Lawrence Mierek's childhood. As a teenager, his father taught him to fly a plane on the airstrip behind their barn. The narrative is likely an imagined scenario, placing a young boy in a precarious situation, which many children would not have the means to solve. Only through extreme determination and courage is Larry able to rescue his father.

Larry, Bush Pilot is a short story intended for primary school children. The few illustrations between chapters make it an appropriate step between picture books and teenage novels. Larry's life on the farm allows modern children to learn about the world before digital technology and the importance of a family working together. The story also tells the reader that if they believe in themselves and their abilities, they can achieve great things.

Jordan Mierek has stepped into the world of children's literature and proved that she is more than capable of writing for several age groups. Larry, Bush Pilot is the first in a series called Flying Acres, and we look forward to joining Larry on his next adventure.
  
Harder They Come Soundtrack by Jimmy Cliff
Harder They Come Soundtrack by Jimmy Cliff
1972 | Rock
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"The film was shown at an all-nighter at the Screen On The Green at the Angel, and for teenage boys the film was great, a bit of James Dean-like rebellion… but the soundtrack, fucking hell, it’s just relentless! ‘Pressure Drop’, ‘Many Rivers To Cross’, ‘The Harder They Come’, ‘Johnny Too Bad’, on and on, every single track’s a winner. And that’s still an album I can put on, absolutely no problem, day or night. At one of our Madstocks we got Desmond Dekker and Toots (Hibbert) to come on and do ‘54-46 (Was My Number)’, and they were loving it, to the point that it’s a very hard song to end, cos it’s just a riff, so by the time we’d played it the fourteenth time, an hour and a half had gone by and they were still happily skipping around… Also, at the first Madstock, we were on the tour bus and our manager said “There’s a feller here who says he’s Prince Buster“. So we were like “Fucking hell, who knows, it might be him, let him on“, and it was! We’d got the name of our band from him, our first single was about him, we’d recorded his songs, but we’d never met him… and suddenly, at our revival in 1992, there he was! So we got him onstage to sing ‘Madness’ with us, and he was a charming man. I think for those chaps it’s a double-edged sword, because they were happy that we gave their music the oxygen of publicity, but at the same time we were making all the flippin’ dough out of it."

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The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
1973 | Rock
9.6 (22 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I still hadn’t really bought a record, so I was still listening to things mainly on the radio, but also watching the chart rundown on “Top of the Pops.” That’s when I became aware of more grown-up music. I liked glam-rock; we’re not allowed to mention his name now, but Gary Glitter’s music was quite good. “Blockbuster!” by Sweet really takes me back to that time because that song starts with a siren. Whenever I hear that record, it immediately transports me back to being on the bumper cars at fun fair. It’s perfect music for that. I was into music like that, but my mum would still get babysitters, because my sister was 8 at the time. So we would have teenage girls come around the house, and one of them had a copy of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The record was broken—apparently, she had left it on the radiogram and somebody had sat on the lid—so you couldn’t play the first track on side one or side two. But she still brought it around. I had to go to bed for school the next day, but I listened to that record through the floorboards. I was actually quite frightened by the bits and bites of deranged laughing, and I wished that I had not listened to it. But I started to realize that music wasn’t just things that you listen to at fun fairs, that there was a more adult side to music. I think Pink Floyd’s music still stands up, actually. Still don’t like The Wall, though. Animals is as far as I got."

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ClareR (6129 KP) rated Femlandia in Books

Oct 19, 2021  
Femlandia
Femlandia
Christina Dalcher | 2021 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Femlandia was an enjoyable, if rather frustrating read. The end of civilisation doesn’t come from a killer virus, zombies or climate disaster, but instead is caused by a total economic collapse. The world (particularly the USA) goes broke. Food becomes prohibitively expensive, services are shut off, people are made homeless: it’s every man/ woman for themselves. Except, as is often the case in these circumstances, it’s the women and children who suffer the most.

Miranda Reynolds is left to fend for herself and her teenage daughter when her husband literally drives himself off a cliff. She realises her only safe space is with the mother she hasn’t spoken to in a very long time, and the community that she has set up: Femlandia. It’s her last resort.

Now, if I were Miranda, I wouldn’t have prevaricated for so long - I would have turned up on Femlandia’s doorstep pretty fast. This is regardless of the fact that it’s nothing like the safe haven it has always sold itself as.

As I’ve said, this frustrated and gripped me in equal measure. There are plenty of things in this, that as a feminist, made my toes curl. But let’s face it: who wants to read a dystopian novel where everything is lovely, there are no problems, and everyone lives happily ever after? That’s like NO dystopia I’ve ever read about!

This looks at human nature in all it’s glory and ignominy. It looks at some uncomfortable subjects: abuse, control and prejudice (especially misandry and anti-trans). But do you know what? I raced through this, it gave me a lot to think about, and I think it’s well worth a read.
  
AMERICA'S FEMME FATALE is the story of a female serial killer who did it for the money or to keep people quiet or from looking at her too closely. Belle is cold-hearted, cold-blooded, and sadly in my mind, managed to get away with it.

We follow her from her teenage years in Norway to her going to America. The book is full of photos of Belle herself, plus other people and situations relevant to the story. I do believe that part of the reason she was able to get away with so many murders was, quite simply, the time in which she lived. I would hope and pray that something of this magnitude wouldn't happen in this day and age.

Although this book has been incredibly well-researched, it was a bit dry and confusing in places. At one point, we make a segue into highlights of the lives of some of her victims which I found to be unnecessary to the story, as it didn't make it any clearer. I personally would have enjoyed it more to stick with the main part of the story.

There were a couple of editing mistakes that I found, but nothing to take away from the story itself. Just a change of name, for example.

An interesting read about someone I hadn't heard of before, and definitely recommended by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Oct 1, 2021